Review: Keri Hilson
Artist: Keri Hilson
Album: In A Perfect World
Genre: Hip-hop, R&B
Sounds like: Mary J. Blige, Ciara
85 Decibels
You may not know Keri Hilson, but you know her music.
Whether singing with Timbaland on 2007’s ‘The Way I Are’ or penning hits by artists like Ciara, Usher, Ludacris and Britney Spears, Hilson has always been behind the music scene. Her debut album was pushed back several times because of failed single launches, but today Hilson – singing and writing for herself – is finally hitting stores.
The samples from ‘In A Perfect World’ have already become two of the most critically-acclaimed hip-hop/R&B singles of this and last year. There’s ‘Energy,’ a ticking ballad about love in the process of being lost, and the crunk-tastic chart-topper ‘Turnin’ Me On’, featuring Lil’ Wayne, on which Keri brings femme fatale-filled sass over a beat whose bells and whistles come off as a spacey Atlanta playground.
That’s precisely where Hilson was born and raised, and if you can’t feel that influence on a large part of ‘Perfect World’s’ 14 tracks, she’s sure to remind you. It’s an album most heavily produced by popular hip-hop big heads Timbaland, Danja and Polow Da Don. Hilson goes hardest on ‘Get Your Money Up,’ a fast-paced Keyshia Cole and Trina collaboration that claps and vibrates in the best way.
‘I wanna see something better than the MARTA bus,’ she warns the boys, meaning you’ve got to afford more than local Atlanta transportation if you want a shot with her.
And there’s more goods where that came from, as Hilson’s debut is part hip-hop swag, part R&B diva, and part pop queen – but all enjoyable. There’s the quietly oozing ‘Intro’ where she tells you exactly what it takes to get her loose (Hennessey and Apple Juice, f.y.i.).
‘How Does It Feel?’ is a mid-tempo thud of a track under Hilson’s fierce warnings, (‘Better keep it real with yourself / Before you end up by yourself…’). ‘Return the Favor’, on the other hand, is an example of her musical diversity: it sparkles with electronic pop as she and Timbaland experiment with dirty talk (‘I’ll be a bad girl, punish me’).
‘In A Perfect World’, though overdue, marks the arrival of a multi-talented artist who is finally getting her due respect. Is it perfect? No – you’d be hard pressed to find anything here that will stand the test of the time. Still, Keri Hilson’s first solo album is a very solid debut.
Published on March 23, 2009 at 12:00 pm
